Zierath: Lord of the Alliance
Zierath: Lord of the Alliance by M. David Loyal is the first Castle Zierath novel. It was published in 2012 by iUniverse, and is available for purchase on Amazon. It is the first in the Chronicles of the Fourth Gnarrhys War. Book Summary More than three thousand years have passed since the last great Gnarrhys War, but Lord Zierath and his fellow Imrhys still remember it. More than half of all the sentients on the Achar died in that war. Now, rumors of a darkness forming off in the west set Zierath out on a quest to gather allies, armies, and information before the darkness envelopes them all. Of course, the first trick is to get out of the tedious administrative duties of ruling a large confederation of countries. Zierath's solution is simple. Sneak out of the castle, city, and country before the regent can stop him. However, if the regent can see into the future, things can get very complicated very quickly. Book Synopsis *Spoiler Alert* Introduction Zierath wakes up in a dark cave. He remembers traveling up into the mountains of Rado to draw and his horse being dragged away. He remember falling into a cave. The King Cobrake appears and tries to kill Zierath. Zierath draws upon his magical ability and Awakens. He slays the King Cobrake in self-defense. *First Appearance of Zierath *First Appearance of the King Cobrake *First Appearance of the Imrhys race *First Appearance of the Cobrake race Chapter 1 - Zierath Zierath wakes up from an Awakening dream in a feather bed. Thousands of years have passed since his Awakening. He is in his bed in the top tower of his castle in the city of Castle Zierath in the kingdom of Zierathdom. His wife Ka'Senne is sleeping next to him. He get up and looks out at the city he had helped build. Ka'Senne also gets up. Zierath talks about a sense that something is not right, and Ka'Senne tells him to trust his instincts. *First Appearance of Ka'Senne Chapter 2 - Ambrosius Zierath is fencing with Sir Angus MacBain. Ambrosius, the Grand Vizier, enters to tell him that they have paperwork to do. The three of them walk across the Castle to Ambrosius's office. They complete their administrative duties. *First Appearance of Angus MacBain *First Appearance of Ambrosius *First Mention of Ha-Gen *First Mention of Lindsay *First Mention of Dykstra *First Mention of Theo Ashton *First Mention of Justice Ashton *First Mention of Senator Ashton Chapter 3 - Ka'Senne Zierath and Ambrosius complete their administrative work and return to Zierath and Ka'Senne's library. Ka'Senne reveals that she needs to return to her homeland to deal with diplomatic issues between the country of Miller and the Third Age Imrhys man Rorke. Ambrosius makes Zierath promise not to leave with her or to follow her. *First Mention of Cass-idy *First Mention of Druachit Modia *First Mention of the Karland of Kilian *First Mention of Kerkove *First Mention of the Mad Hatter of Abatwar *First Mention of Rorke Chapter 4 - The Zierath Cafe A couple of days later, Sir Angus, Zierath, and Ambrosius leave the Castle and go out into the city of Castle Zierath. They go to the Zierath Cafe. The three discuss many things, including Ambrosius's Awakening, the acceptance of the goblin races into the society, and Zierath's responsibilities. * First Appearance of Mozaire * First Appearance of Tonka * First Appearance of Zawn (6th Age) * First mention of Gruumick the Great * First Mention of Nicholas the Axemage Chapter 5 - The Karland After a couple more weeks, the Karland of Kilian arrives. The night the Karland arrives, Zierath has a faux Awakening dream. Rather than facing the King Cobrake again, the dathrhys lord Boratch appears in the dream and slams through Zierath's ribs and chest. Zierath wakes up. * First Appearance of the Karland of Kilian * First "Appearance" of Boratch * First Mention of Annie * First Mention of Bruno * First Mention of Kuker * First Mention of Landaxis * First Mention of Mattew * First Mention of Melissa * First Mention of Paco * First Mention of Pouli * First Mention of Stavius * First mention of Tess MacTaggert * First Mention of Xiola Chapter 6 - Boratch Ambrosius, the Karland, and Zierath discuss the Dathrhys lord and their encounters with him. * First Mention of Larsen * First Mention of the Second Gnarrhys Lord * First Mention of Storre Chapter 7 - More Arrivals Dan'l the Wang and Duke Dykstra arrive at Castle Zierath. They, along with Zierath, the Karland, and Ambrosius go for a ride on the castle lands. They end up in a bison stampede. The stampede was caused by the arrival of Queen Annie in her mammoth-drawn wagon. Annie makes some cryptic comments about the future as she reveals that she has had flashes of the Boding Time Sense. * First Appearance of Annie * First Appearance of Dan'l the Wang * First Appearance of Dykstra Chapter 8 - Mattew Mattew enters Zierath's bed chamber in an attempt to steal the agenda for the meeting, part of an on-going contest between the two. As the two talk, Angus rushes in to let him know the Imrhys Room in the Castle is glowing. Zierath enters the long-distance speaking room and speaks to the Rickster, who is under attack by Boratch and an unseen opponent. There is a power surge, and Zierath is flung off the talking circle. Zierath experiences two Boding Time Sense timelines. In one, he is battling beside Phyllis and Kerkove and against the Grank. In another, he is battling at Castle Zierath beside Annie. Ka'Senne is lying dying a this feet, and Annie is smashed by the Friggurnaut. Zierath is attacked and killed by Boratch. Zierath wakes up from the Boding Time Sense dream. * First Appearance of Mattew * First "Appearance" of the Friggurnaut * First "Appearance" of the Grank * First "Appearance" of Kerkove * First "Appearance" of Phyllis * First "Appearance" of the Rickster * First Mention of Raven Chapter 9 - The Council of Nobles Zierath attends the Council of Nobles meeting and calls for Time of Crisis. The Nobles pledge their support. Annie sends Dan'l the Wang, Duke Dykstra, and Pouli on a mission to investigate. Zierath starts making plans to sneak out for his own investigation. * First Appearance of Bruno * First Appearance of Kuker * First Appearance of the Mad Hatter of Abatwar * First Appearance of Melissa * First Appearance of Paco * First Appearance of Pouli * First Appearance of Stavius * First Appearance of Xiola Chapter 10 - The Departure Zierath gives Sir Andr'u a golden holodisk to give to Annie. It includes instructions for her after he leaves. Zierath sneaks out of the palace as an owl and lands next to his horse. Kuker is there waiting for him and informs him that she will be traveling with him. The two meet Angus at the city gate, and the three of them hurry out of town. * First Appearance of Andr'u * First Mention of Faux Chapter 11 - Soldiers and Oracles Zierath, Kuker, and Sir Angus have spent two days trying to avoid the soldiers who were sent out by Queen Annie to bring them back. Zierath talks his way out of his arrest when confronted by Captain Mozaire, but is captured by the Annien Oracle Sybyl Solnak. The three travelers are freed by the returning Captain Mozaire, Corporal Zawn, Sergeant Tonka, and the Kukerian Dei Palomino. The Oracles are taken back to Davez City while Zierath, Kuker, and Sir Angus continue on to Maz City on board a folding boat. * First Appearance of Solnak Chapter 12 - Maz City As the three travelers are resting, they are attacked by dark-stuff possessed sentients. They kill their attackers and discover at least some of them are from the Lands of the Rickster. The three travelers hurry on towards Maz City. They enter the city through a secret door and get past the thieves on the way to the thieves' den. The leader of the Maz City thieves is Maz, the Mayor of Maz City and the brother of Zierath. * First Appearance of Gratt Doo-jah * First Appearance of Maz * First Appearance of Mirix LaTolley * First Appearance of Seera * Characters Appearing in the Novel Abbischo; Alamap; Ambrosius; Andorin; Andr'u; Angeno; Angus MacBain; Annie; Captain Paul Black; Boratch; Braithe; Bruno; Canus; Dan'l the Wang; Daveed; DeeDee; Doorman of Avalonia; Durath; Dykstra; Gratt Doo-jah; Hessia; Jeeves; Jongivern; Julieklein; Ka'Senne; the Karland; Kelleye; Kerkove; King Cobrake; Kiroon; Kuker; Landaxis; the Mad Hatter; the Manicotti; Marea; Mattew; Maz; McCraw; Melanie; Melissa; Metcalf; Mirix LaTolley; Morten; Mozaire; Paco; Palomino; Phyllis; Pike; Ponte; Pouli; Raven; the Rickster; Seera; Shappell; Solnak; the Stone Rook; Stavius; Tanyadee; Thomoff; Timzick; Todweb; Tonka; Ugrak; Vorum; Xiola; Zawn; Zierath; Characters Mentioned in the Novel Androse; Justice Ashton, Senator Ashton, Theo Ashton, Augibur, Basil, Bravebill, Bright Silver, Brooke, Cass-idy, Clooney, Colletta, Constanza, Cryssal, Darynbruch, Druachit Modia; Emefell; Faux; Fedra; the Friggurnaut; Ha-Gen; Innux; Invera; Jarduk; Jensen; Jystad; Klein; Klorath; Lady Lark; Larsen; Laurstra; Lindsay; Morrelheim; Tess MacTaggert; Nicholas the Axemage; Pet'r; the Philcan; Reynold; Rorke; Ryan the All-Bright; Sithnar; Smehren; Storre; Stumme; Tamara; Totiana; Uni; Wescon; Zorn the Ancient Category:Creative Endeavors